Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress / Upshaw, Hadley, Ramey, Bumbry; Nagano

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This excellent recording gives Stravinsky's underappreciated Rake's Progress a respectable, if unromantic, rebirth. Tom Rakewell's naïve idiocy is perfectly embodied by Jerry Hadley with crisp diction and arrogant bravado, but he doesn't capture Rakewell's remorse and tender side. Upshaw's Ann Truelove is the epitome of grace, commitment, and effortless singing in this most difficult of roles. Unfortunately, Bumbry's Baba, whose voice is impressively well-suited to the role, is loud and humorless, while the charmless Nick Shadow of Ramey shines during the dramatic moments. Stravinsky's magical woodwind writing is artfully captured by Nagano, who conducts with relentless forward motion, missing all opportunities for occasional romantic indulgence. --Barbara Eisner Bayer

Tracks:

The Rake's Progress: Prelude
The Rake's Progress: The Woods Are Green
The Rake's Progress: Anne, My Dear - Yes, Father
The Rake's Progress: Here I Stand
The Rake's Progress: Since It Is Not By Merit
The Rake's Progress: Tom Rakewell? - I...
The Rake's Progress: Fair Lady, Gracious Gentlemen
The Rake's Progress: I Wished But Once
The Rake's Progress: I'll Call The Coachman, Sir
The Rake's Progress: Farewell, Farewell
The Rake's Progress: All Is Ready, Sir
The Rake's Progress: Dear Father Trulove
The Rake's Progress: Laughter And Light
The Rake's Progress: With Air Commanding
The Rake's Progress: Come, Tom, I Would Fain
The Rake's Progress: Soon Dawn Will Glitter
The Rake's Progress: Brothers Of Mars
The Rake's Progress: Love, Too Frequently Betrayed
The Rake's Progress: How Sad A Song
The Rake's Progress: The Sun Is Bright
The Rake's Progress: How Dark And Dreadful Is This Place
The Rake's Progress: Quietly, Night
The Rake's Progress: My Father! Can I Desert Him
The Rake's Progress: I Go, I Go To Him
The Rake's Progress: Vary The Song, O London, Change
The Rake's Progress: Nature, Green Unnatural Mother
The Rake's Progress: Always The Quarry That I Stalk
The Rake's Progress: Master, Are You Alone?
The Rake's Progress: Come, Master, Observe The Host Of Mankind
The Rake's Progress: In Youth The Panting Slaves
The Rake's Progress: My Tale Shall Be Told
The Rake's Progress: Prelude
The Rake's Progress: How Strange! Although The Hear For Love Dare Everything
The Rake's Progress: What Can This Mean?
The Rake's Progress: Anne! Here!
The Rake's Progress: My Love, Am I To Remain In Here For Ever?
The Rake's Progress: Could It Then Have Been Known
The Rake's Progress: I Have Not Run Away, Dear Heart

Tracks:

The Rake's Progress: As I Was Saying
The Rake's Progress: Come, Sweet, Come, Why So Glum?
The Rake's Progress: Scorned! Abused!
The Rake's Progress: My Heart Is Cold
The Rake's Progress: Fa Lala La Lala
The Rake's Progress: O I Wish It Were True
The Rake's Progress: Thanks To This Exellent Device
The Rake's Progress: Forgive Me, Master
The Rake's Progress: Ruin. Disaster. Shame
The Rake's Progress: Do You Know Where Tom Rakewell Is?
The Rake's Progress: Ladies, Both Fair And Gracious
The Rake's Progress: Who Hears Me, Knows Me
The Rake's Progress: Sold! Annoyed!
The Rake's Progress: Now What Was That?
The Rake's Progress: You Love Him, Seek To Set Him Right
The Rake's Progress: I Shall Go Back
The Rake's Progress: If Boys Had Wings And Girls Had Stings
The Rake's Progress: I Go To Him
The Rake's Progress: Who Cares A Fig For Tory Or Whig?
The Rake's Progress: Prelude
The Rake's Progress: Has Love No Voice?
The Rake's Progress: Very Well
The Rake's Progress: Well Then - My Heart Is Wild
The Rake's Progress: I Burn, I Burn! I Freeze!
The Rake's Progress: With Roses Crowned
The Rake's Progress: Prepare Yourselves, Heroic Shades
The Rake's Progress: Madmen's Words Are All Untrue
The Rake's Progress: Leave All Love And Hope Behind
The Rake's Progress: There He Is
The Rake's Progress: I Have Waited For Thee So Long
The Rake's Progress: In A Foolish Dream
The Rake's Progress: I Am Exceeding Weary
The Rake's Progress: Gently, Little Boat
The Rake's Progress: Anne, My Dear
The Rake's Progress: Every Wearied Body Must
The Rake's Progress: Where Art Thou, Venus?
The Rake's Progress: Mourn For Adonis
The Rake's Progress: Good People, Just A Moment

Amazon.com essential recording

This excellent recording gives Stravinsky's underappreciated Rake's Progress a respectable, if unromantic, rebirth. Tom Rakewell's naïve idiocy is perfectly embodied by Jerry Hadley with crisp diction and arrogant bravado, but he doesn't capture Rakewell's remorse and tender side. Upshaw's Ann Truelove is the epitome of grace, commitment, and effortless singing in this most difficult of roles. Unfortunately, Bumbry's Baba, whose voice is impressively well-suited to the role, is loud and humorless, while the charmless Nick Shadow of Ramey shines during the dramatic moments. Stravinsky's magical woodwind writing is artfully captured by Nagano, who conducts with relentless forward motion, missing all opportunities for occasional romantic indulgence. --Barbara Eisner Bayer

Customer Reviews:

Not the greatest 20th Century Musical Stage.......2006-06-22

'The Rakes's Progress' by Igor Stravinsky is a mid-length musical drama in English which, to my ears, doesn't really come up to the very best 20th century musical stage works such as Brecht and Weill's 'Die DreigroschenOper' and George Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess'. One can argue that Stravinsky is working in a different genre, but I really don't think so. I can listen to Weill and Gershwin's works over and over and not be bored, while this Stravinsky work does very little for me. And, I am often moved by Stravinsky's works, especially 'The Rites of Spring' and 'Les Noches'.

For Dawn Upshaw fans, this is not a major interest. Her role is fair and her performances are not up to her quality on her own recordings.

If you must have a complete set of Stravinsky, this is pretty good, but not his best.

Another hit-or-miss Rake.......2005-09-18

This makes about four stereo recordings of The Rake's Progress, along with the Gardiner, Chailly, and Craft, that fall down seriously compared to the classic Sixties version on Sony with the composer and a host of perfectly cast singers. In this case, the dud is Hadley, who sings with mannered earnestness and a total lack of Stravinsky style...he is into himself every moment. The Nick Shadow is good but nothing speical, and even Dawn Uppshaw, who should have been a spectacular Anne, sounds underpowered and somewhat tentative emoitonally. This is a hrd opera to get right, and the only one that does so far is the composer's and a DVD from Glyndebourne under Haitink, with marvelous sets and costumes by David Hockney.

This is a great Rake!.......2001-01-11

Kent Nagano leads the Lyon Opera Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of great soloists in one of the best Rake recordings ever.

Nagano does all he can to emphasize the delightful grotesqueness of Stravinsky's late neoclassic style. The famous Act II, Scene 2 Finale where Baba unveils herself before the crowd comes off so well, you'll want to jump for joy!

Dawn Upshaw gives a spotless performance end-to-end; her voice lends the appropriate innocence to Ann Trulove's character. Hadley's experience in music theater (cf. Bernstein's Candide) is evident in his fumbling, bumbling, somewhat bombastic Tom Rakewell... One surmises his intonation is not perfect, but probably shouldn't be for the part anyhow.

Samuel Ramey can make you laugh and scare the daylights out of you with his deep, brooding Nick Shadow (the best rendering of this character ever, I think). Grace Bumbry is downright disgusting as Baba the Turk, playing up Baba's extravagent excess to a tee.

This is not a 'serious' Rake, but the Rake is not a serious opera... just a seriously good opera. The cast bring the heavy-handed moral and often silly themes to the fore in high theatrical style... as Stravinsky doubtless intended.

This is a great buy! - you won't be disappointed.

it's okay.......2000-07-14

I saw a production of basically this cast at the Met (but with Levine conducting) and the singing is indeed TOP notch. If you do like Dawn Upshaw's voice (which I do), then by all means this is the recording of the Rake's to have. If you just want to hear Upshaw doing the "No Word from Tom/I go to him" cabaletta/aria then I would recommend her "knoxville CD" which has that combo w/ Zinman conducting. I would probably have a more favorable (higher starred) review of this particular recording if I had not purchased the new Gardiner one. If you are the 1st time customer wanting to listen to Neo-Classic Stravinsky at his best, then that is the one to go with: faster tempi, unbelievable diction, crisp strings, albeit no-Upshaw. Nagano gets a fantastic sound (as usual) but I would recommend the Gardiner.

One of the better recordings of Stravinsky's great opera........1999-05-08

Although Bumbry, Hadley and Ramey are perfectly suited for their roles -- and they sing them with extraordinary artistic phrasing, verve, and drama -- Upshaw's voice is blah. It's a vanilla voice in a world of chocolate and cognac. Boring and dull. However, this recording IS worth the time and money one might spend, just to listen to the rest of the cast and Nagano's conducting. Superlative!

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Big Towne, 2061 [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Dvorak / Hindemith: Cello Concertos

Everything to Lose

Great Voices of the Twentieth Century: Kathleen Ferrier [Import]

Essential George Duke [Import]

El Color de Tu Corazon

D.C.O.

Smoke N' Fire

It's All in the Game